New Beginnings (47 page)

“Mr. Hart, we need to go. Now,” Dr. Ellington said urgently.

“It’ll be all right,” I said gently, trying to assure him.

Xavier nodded to the doctor. They started making their way out of the room. He walked along side as they wheeled me toward the OR, holding my hand the entire time.

We paused just outside the OR. Xavier rested his hand on my belly, bringing his forehead down to mine. “I love you.” He kissed me lightly on the lips. “I’ll see you soon.”

“I love you, too.” I said softly against his lips. Turning away from the anxious look in his eyes, I watched as the anesthesiologist plunged a needle into my IV. That was the last thing I saw before my world was plunged into darkness.

A warm hand gripped mine. Strong fingers were methodically rubbing my knuckles. Oxygen was being pumped into my nose leaving the nasal passages dry. My throat was also dry and sore. I listened to the beeping of the heart monitor while a blood pressure cuff started to automatically inflate on my left arm. Struggling to open my eyes, I find Xavier sitting next to my bed. He was pitched forward in the chair with his head angled down. His brow creased with concern. The babies. They were okay, weren’t they?

“Hey,” I rasped.

His head snapped up. Tired and weary-looking eyes met mine before they closed as he let out a sigh.

“The babies. Are they okay?”

A huge smile broke out on his face. Happiness chased away the tiredness in his eyes. “The babies are perfect, Ella, absolutely perfect. They are fine. Breathing well with no assistance. The doctor was very impressed with them,” he said proudly.

Now I closed my eyes letting out the breath I had been holding. “Where are they?”

“They’re down in the nursery. I can’t get your mother to leave,” he said, chuckling.

“I want to see them.” I still didn’t know if we had boys or girls or one of each.

Xavier kissed my hand. “Let me get the nurse first and let them know you are awake.” He reached over and hit the call button.

Minutes later Dr. Ellington came in. “Ella, I’m glad to see you are awake. How are you feeling?”

“Tired. Thirsty. And I want to see my babies.”

“We’ll get the oxygen out and I’ll have them bring you some water. Everything went well. You suffered from some postpartum hemorrhaging, but we were able to get it quickly under control. We’ll get you on your feet in the morning. I don’t see any reason why you can’t be discharged in about three days provided you continue to recover well,” she said, smiling. “Any questions?”

Xavier frowned at the doctor. “Postpartum hemorrhaging? Is she all right? I mean is she still able to have children?”

“The hemorrhaging isn’t terribly uncommon, but, yes, everything is all right. There’s no reason why she can’t have any children in the future,” Dr. Ellington said, smiling.

He was worried about having more children? I chuckled. “I think we need to concentrate on the two that we have before we start worrying about future children.”

Dr. Ellington laughed. “I agree. As soon as they get you moved from recovery and into a room, they’ll be able to bring the babies to you. If you don’t have any other questions, I’ll see you in the morning.”

Xavier stood. “Thank you,” he said, shaking the doctor’s hand.

“You’re welcome.” She smiled warmly at him before leaving.

As soon as I was moved to a private room on the maternity floor, I begged Xavier to bring the babies to me. I didn’t want him to tell me the sex of the babies yet, still wanting it to be a surprise.

My excitement grew when he wheeled a lone bassinet into the room. Both babies appeared to be snuggled around each other as if they were still in the womb. Xavier smiled and shrugged at me. “The nurses find they sleep better when they are together.”

I smiled in return and relaxed into the pillows at my back that were helping to prop me up on my raised bed. The blankets the babies were wrapped in were standard hospital issue of white with pink and blue stripes. Both little heads were covered with a pink and blue striped cap. It was impossible to determine their sex based on what they were dressed in. Xavier had the clear bassinet angled away from me so I couldn’t read the card the nurses had placed at the head of it.

“Do you remember all the names we came up with and what we settled on as our number one for a boy and a girl?” Xavier asked, reaching into the bassinet and extricating one baby from the other. They both stirred and let our little cries of protest before they settled down.

I nodded my head at him as he made his way over to me. He looked so natural with this tiny baby nestled protectively in his arms. Tears sprung to my eyes.

“Well then, Mrs. Hart, it’s my honor to present to you your first born, Brant Xavier,” he said, his voice full of emotion.

He carefully placed the little bundle in my arms and sat on the edge of the bed. I ran a finger along his tiny cheek and hands. His skin was so soft and warm. Bending my head to place a soft kiss on his little forehead, I paused inhaling his incredible baby smell. There was a serene look on his face, but he stirred when I pulled away. I gasped when his eyes opened. A slightly smaller version of Xavier’s incredible blue eyes looked up at me. His little arms and legs started moving with uncontrolled jerky movements. Sliding his little cap off, I found a full head of black hair. He was a miniature version of Xavier.

I met his love-filled eyes and smiled. “He’s you,” I whispered. “A perfect, little replica of you.” Xavier leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips. “How big is he?”

“Our son was born at 4:12 p.m., weighing in at five pounds two ounces and he’s sixteen inches long. His legs are a little bowed, but the doctor said not to worry. It’s normal since they were both so cramped up inside you. They will straighten on their own.”

Suddenly the feeble little cries of his twin sounded from the bassinet. Xavier walked over and picked up baby number two. The baby settled into his hold and immediately quieted down as if he/she knew this was a familiar embrace. For a second, I was almost envious over the fact that he got to know our babies before me.

“Mrs. Hart, it is my honor to present you with your second born and youngest by five minutes, Sophia Rae,” he said proudly, placing her in the crook of my right arm. He picked up Brant so I could focus all of my attention on Sophia.

Like her brother, her skin was soft like velvet and warm. Her little fingers wrapped around my pinkie and held on tight, turning the tips of her little fingers white. Bending to kiss her softly on the forehead, too, I inhaled her incredible baby scent that was so much like her brothers. Sliding her little cap off, I took in her full head of brownish-black hair. It wasn’t as dark as Xavier’s or as brown as mine. Instead it was the perfect mix of both of ours.

“It’s curly,” Xavier said. I frowned at him in question. “Her hair. It curls like yours when it’s wet.” He smiled at me. “She’s the perfect little replica of her beautiful mother.” As soon as he said that, she opened her eyes and stared up at me. I looked back into my own big, chocolate-brown eyes that, upon closer inspection, had perfect flecks of cerulean blue.

“And how big is she? She’s seems so much tinier than her brother,” I said, trying hard not to sound concerned.

“Our daughter was born at 4:17 p.m., weighing in at four pounds ten ounces and she’s fifteen inches long. Not to worry. She’s got a very healthy appetite. The nurses believe she will be surpassing her brother’s weight by the time we leave the hospital,” he said, laughing.

“They’ve been fed already?”

“I know you were determined to breastfeed and the nurses said you can still do so. But you took longer than usual in the OR because of the hemorrhaging.” His eyes met mine and I was surprised to see guilt. “Ella, if I had known that there was a complication, I wouldn’t-”

“There’s nothing to worry about. You couldn’t have known. Our babies needed to be with their father. You were right where you needed to be.” I reached out and squeezed his forearm, offering him a small smile.

“Thank you, sweetness. I know being on bed rest wasn’t easy, but you did it without complaint. You gave our babies their best fighting chance possible by holding on to them for so long. You did a beautiful job, baby. I’m so proud of you.”

Xavier leaned down to kiss me. Brant protested loudly in his arms, causing Sophia to stir in mine. We both gave each other a look that silently said, “Welcome to parenthood.”

For the first few weeks, our home had become Grand Central Baby Station the moment we all arrived home from the hospital. Pink and blue flower arrangements with balloons crowded the living room and kitchen, making those rooms smell like a florist. Stacks of cards were crowding the mailbox daily, and the doorbell was constantly ringing with the arrival of packages ranging from stuffed animals to baby clothes.

Bev ran around all day doing laundry, housecleaning, cooking, and shopping. My parents were here so frequently I began to wonder if they had moved in. Tom and Renatta stopped by daily as well as Gabriel and Tiffany. Patrick made several visits a week claiming it was for business reasons, but he would spend more time fawning over the babies like a proud uncle than he did spending it with Xavier. And if Renatta, Tiffany, and my mother were in the house at the same time, there were arguments over who got to hold which baby and for how long. I only seemed to see my babies when they needed to be fed, and even then that wasn’t always necessary since I started pumping so others could feed them as well.

So the first night we were all left alone, much to my surprise, I hadn’t heard the babies cry over the monitor. Instead Xavier’s absence in the bed woke me. I slipped on my robe and headed down to the babies room first, figuring he was either with them or in his office. A soft light coming from the babies’ room told me he was there.

As I got closer, the soft sounds of Billy Joel’s Lullaby (Goodnight, My Angel) drifted out into the hall. Xavier was swaying Sophia gently while he beautifully sang along with the song. Her little hand was wrapped around his index finger. As she stared into her daddy’s blue eyes, sucking furiously on her pacifier, she started blinking slower and slower. He had almost lulled her to sleep when Brant started to fuss.

Not wanting him to have to stop dancing with Sophia, I stepped into the room. “I think that’s my cue.”

Xavier narrowed his eyes, looking at me suspiciously. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough.” I paused to smile at him. “I didn’t think it was possible to fall any harder for you, but you proved me wrong after watching you tenderly take care of our daughter like that.” My voice cracked as tears sprung to my eyes.

“He’s already been changed and fed. I’m sure he’s just missing his sister,” he said as I made my way over to Brant.

While I lifted him out of his crib, Xavier went over to his iPhone and changed the song to Ambrosia’s, You’re The Biggest Part of Me. I started to sway to the music with Brant, but he continued to fuss. Xavier moved Sophia into the crook of his right arm so he could wrap his left around me. I was holding Brant in my left arm so as Xavier brought us together, the babies ended up snuggled against each other.

I rested my head on Xavier’s chest as a sigh of contentment escaped me. Brant reached out for Sophia as if he had been looking for her. They both immediately calmed down as soon as their tiny hands made contact with each other. It was beautiful. It was amazing. It was life, and it didn’t get any better than this.